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Consumer Health World
An open exchange of ideas regarding Consumer Directed Healthcare
Welcome to the group blog of the Nation's leading business-to-business conferences on consumer healthcare! The Consumer Directed Health Care Conference (CDHCC) and The National Wellness, Prevention & Fitness Conference (NHWPC) will be co-located from April 30 - May 2 at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, NV.
NHWPC and CDHCC are held concurrently with the Consumer Direct Access to Health & Retailization Conference (CDAHRC) and the International Medical Tourism Conference. On this blog you can begin the conversation with the nation's leading experts on healthcare transformation and continue the debate in Las Vegas.
Register at www.consumerhealthworld.com, become a member of Consumer Health World group and meet the healthcare industry leaders at our conferences!
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technoratiAre we forgetting the role of human nature in "Healthcare Consumerism"?
Truly changing our healthcare system is going to require success across hundreds of thousands of employers...
For over 30 years I have been part of the employee benefits community and have watched the world move from indemnity plans to HMO’s, PPO’s, flexible benefits and apparently now CDHPs.
The fact is that none of these “new” things evolved as originally planned and some, like HMO’s, essentially failed as a broad based solution.
Why? human nature and its capacity to absorb change and modify one’s behavior.
Author Info
John Nail, a 30+ year benefits industry veteran and serial entrepreneur, is the founder and “newsmaster” of The Industry Radar, his third employee benefits related technology startup.
Mr. Nail’s passion is “information logistics” - or creating transactional, information and communication efficiencies between the various constituents in the “HR/employee benefits supply chain” – employees, employers, brokers and benefits/healthcare insurers.
He started his first company, Employease in 1996 which was the true first software-as-a-service (SaaS) application and the first web native human resources benefits enrollment, communication and financial management platform. Mr. Nail personally funded the startup of the company and as its first CEO raised over $17 million of capital in three venture capital rounds before leaving the company in late 1999 to start his second company, digitalBenefits, which he later sold to Authoria.
In the fall of 2006, after a very successful partnership, Employease was acquired by ADP and today is an integral part of the company’s major market growth strategy.
The Industry Radar (www.theindustryradar.com) which is an RSS driven digital media business focused solely on meeting the real time information needs of human resources, insurance, healthcare and employee benefits professionals. Its 80+ RSS news feeds and 2 email newsletters reach well over 100,000 industry professionals daily and serve over 4 million article views monthly.
Mr. Nail, a Civil War buff and avid golfer, is a Cum Laude graduate of Williams College and is also the father of three ages 25, 7 and 5. He maintains his office and home in Atlanta, Georgia.
Myths of Behavioral Therapy
A myth exists that behavior therapy solutions are not as effective as drugs or surgery for the treatment of metabolic disorders.
A myth exists that behavior therapy solutions are not as effective as drugs or surgery for the treatment of metabolic disorders because they require both significant effort and adherence on the part of the patient and significant changes in how healthcare thinks about caring and paying for these people. Both of these departures from business-as-usual in the treatment of metabolic disorders (clearly the largest drivers of healthcare costs today) are the very essence of consumer-directed healthcare. Successful behavior therapy solutions do exist and need to be taken seriously and supported by patients, providers and payors alike - the stakes are just too high not to. The key is understanding that successful solutions to the treatment of metabolic disorders require patient awareness of their own bodies and behaviors, not just generalities like “get more exercise”, combined with decision support tools for healthcare professionals, that drive adherence to evidence-based programs.
Author Info
A respected scientist, seasoned entrepreneur, and award-wining novelist, Dr. Astro Teller’s endeavors all grow out of a passion for the transformative nature of intelligent technologies. Dr. Teller is currently the Chairman of BodyMedia, Inc, the leading company in unobtrusive wearable body monitoring. Past work has taken Astro through a two successful CEO positions, teaching and researching at Stanford University, numerous patents, a Hertz fellowship, a range of technical and non-technical articles and books, and $27M in raised capital. Dr. Teller holds a BS in computer science and an MS in symbolic and heuristic computation, both from Stanford University. Dr. Teller completed his Ph.D. in artificial intelligence at Carnegie Mellon University.
How will the medical tourism industry in the United States develop?
The US medical tourism market is still a burgeoning industry. As such, its development will be dictated by a variety of factors.
The US medical tourism market is still a burgeoning industry. As such, its development will be dictated by a variety of market factors and the reactions of a variety of market sectors.
Author Info
DALE C. VAN DEMARK
Member
Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.
Mr. Van Demark is a partner in the Health Care and Life Sciences Practice in the firm's Washington, DC office. He practices in the firm’s corporate and finance practice group, focusing on tax exempt health system transactions and private equity investments. Mr. Van Demark also provides tax exempt counseling to both tax exempt organizations and those seeking business relationships with tax exempt organizations. Mr. Van Demark has been at the forefront of advising clients with respect to the globalization of the U.S. healthcare industry, including the burgeoning medical tourism/medical travel industry. Mr. Van Demark speaks and writes regarding these topics.
Mr. Van Demark’s experiences include:
· Representing tax exempt health systems in merger and acquisition, joint venture and restructuring transactions
· Assisting tax exempt health systems develop, implement and evaluate governance and tax exemption compliance and best practices
· Advising clients on matters relating to tax-exempt qualification and compliance, including issues relating to private inurement, intermediate sanctions, and joint ventures
· Representing investors in venture capital and debt financing
· Assisting clients in organizing and structuring investment and management vehicles
· Assisting clients with respect to management and ownership issues, including issues relating to compensation and dispute and conflict resolution.
Prior to joining EBG, Mr. Van Demark spent five years as a transactional lawyer with a leading Washington, DC law firm, and two years as a business lawyer in Connecticut.
Debra L. Ness on Consumer Directed Health Care
Real “consumer-directed health care” means a system that makes consumers and patients the central focus.
Real “consumer-directed health care” means a system that makes consumers and patients the central focus and gives us all the information we need to make better health care decisions. This is true regardless of whether you are enrolled in a high deductible plan, have more comprehensive coverage or self-pay for your care.
Author Info
Debra Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families
For over two decades, Debra Ness has been an ardent advocate for the principles of fairness and social justice. Drawing on an extensive background in health and public policy, Ness possesses a unique understanding of the issues that face women and families at home, in the workplace, and in the health care arena.
Ness serves on the boards of numerous organizations working to improve the quality of health care including: the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), the nation’s leader in accrediting and developing quality measures for managed care organizations; the National Quality Forum (NQF), established by the President’s Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry to implement a national strategy on quality protections; and the Leapfrog Group, which identifies problems and proposes solutions to improve hospital systems. She also was recently appointed to serve on the Quality Alliance Steering Committee, established by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to guide national efforts on improving health care quality and increasing transparency and accountability of the health care system.
Coach Meg's Blog
Please visit the blog of Margaret Moore, Chief Executive Officer, Wellcoaches Corporation.
Please visit the blog of Margaret Moore, Chief Executive Officer, Wellcoaches Corporation. Coach Meg's Blog highlights her experiences as she coaches people of diverse backgrounds on taking control of their health and well-being. To read her blog entries you can visit www.coachmegblog.com or the new Wellcoaches community blog on Trusted.MD at http://trusted.md/group/wellcoaches.
Author Info
Dr. Vicki Rackner on Motivating Behavior Change
How do we motivate behavior change? I really do have a new perspective on this “for a change.”
I’m a surgeon, and I’ve observed the tens of thousands of patients I have treated in my surgical practice. Some have answered their health wake-up calls with transformative lifestyle changes; others do not. I wondered: what sets apart those who translate their good intentions with behavioral changes? Those who turn around their health stories share a common program I call CAB – compassion, alternatives and a buddy. Although there is tremendous individual variation, most successful patients implement an approach that has all three elements.
Author Info
Vicki Rackner MD FACS is a nationally recognized expert in the doctor-patient relationship. She’s the founder of Medical Bridges, an organization that serves the business community by helping employees take the fastest, most direct route from illness to health—and full productivity--by partnering more effectively with their doctors. Dr. Rackner is a board-certified surgeon and Clinical Instructor at the University of Washington School of Medicine who, after treating tens of thousands of patients, left the operating room to be on the cutting edge of health care consumerism. Dr. Rackner is the author of The Personal Health Journal, The Biggest Skeleton in Your Doctor’s Closet and co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul Healthy Living Series: Heart Disease. She’s quoted in publications that range from The Wall Street Journal to Reader’s Digest to CNN.com. She’s been the guest on over 150 radio shows, including NPR and Martha Stewart Living.
Grace-Marie Turner's Comments on the President's State of the Union
Grace-Marie Turner's Comments on the President's State of the Union: Leveling the Healthcare Playing Field
The health care initiative that President Bush announced in his State of the Union Address has sparked a new conversation about health reform. While the Democratic leadership in Congress has been talking almost exclusively about expanding government health programs, Mr. Bush’s plan would energize the private market for health insurance. His bold new idea to give individuals and families a direct tax break for buying health insurance has generated news coverage and editorial comment across the country.
Author Info
Grace-Marie Turner is the president of the Galen Institute, a public policy research organization that she founded in 1995 to promote an informed debate over free-market ideas for health reform. Grace-Marie is also founder and facilitator of the Health Policy Consensus Group, which serves as a forum for analysts from market-oriented think tanks around the country to analyze and develop health policy recommendations. She is the editor of Empowering Health Care Consumers through Tax Reform, published by the University of Michigan Press.
Grace-Marie Turner serves on the Consumer Directed Health Care Conference Advisory Board
The President's Healthcare Proposal: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
Roy Ramthun's response to President Bush's SOU Healthcare Proposal.
After learning more details about the plans proposed and enacted in California and Massachusetts, respectively, it is a relief to see the new health initiative proposed by President Bush in his State of the Union address this week. Unlike the aforementioned state plans, the President has proposed a bold step to correct the historical mistake made over 60 years ago that has forever linked employment and health insurance coverage and created a medical arms race that is consuming our economy. Hopefully, this announcement will change the course of the debate for the months ahead.
Roy Ramthun is currently the president of HSA Consulting Services, LLC. He was previously Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the White House where he served as the senior health policy advisor to President George W. Bush. Mr. Ramthun also served as the Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for health initiatives and led Treasury's implementation of health savings accounts after they were enacted into law in December, 2003. Previously, he held a variety of positions at Humana Inc. and was a health care analyst with the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance.
Author Info
President, HSA Consulting Services, LLC; Former Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy
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Medline Plus
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